Family Lampoon

Two of the Müller families in a race to win the street Xmas decoration title. On the left, the "Yellow House Müllers" have now lit up three tree trunks and there is a fourth waiting which I suspect will be similarly decorated on Monday after they have the chance to get to the shops. I suspect that the increase from one to three was forced by the right side "Young-Bio-Müllers" moving the lights they had on the rear of the house and only visible to the three or four dogwalkers, to the roadside where possibly one passing stranger per week might see it.

A bit of Inter Family “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” rivalry in these parts doesn't make the news headlines, unlike the UK where it is traditionally and historically one of the major issues that keep the printed press alive. I think only MPs sex affairs top it but we are living in different times now - two MPs having sex on the green benches of the House of Commons caught on Parliament TV during Prime Minister's Question Time, is probably no longer newsworthy or at least only until the next day when the next scandal overtakes it.

The various events in the USA and the UK since 2016 that have taken place which would normally cause the collapse or resignation of a Government/President are so numerous that nobody can remember them.

On Friday evening the German Conservative Party elected their new chairperson, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer a.k.a. "AKK" as even Germans have a problem with pronouncing that. Studied politics and has always been in the business. She lives in the Saarland, the smallest non-metropolitan State in Germany with less than 1m inhabitants, bordering on France and Luxembourg and in the past has been a bit of a pawn in Franco-German wars. Traditionally the industries were coal and steel, but their demise over the last 40 years has hit the region very badly.

The major manufacturing business is the large Ford production at Saarlouis and Michelin, Bosch, Villeroy & Boch have a presence. The state has learnt to adapt and is now attracting more and more IT companies. Interesting that although French is not commonly spoken, it is a compulsory language at the top level of state schools and the government has set a target of having French as a second official language by 2030.

And just like the flexibility in languages, the Conservative party during the time AKK was State President had one coalition with the Greens and LibDems which worked well and then after new elections one with the Socialist party. She knows what working together and compromise means. She was handpicked by Merkel who brought her to Berlin a few years ago, got her to be Secretary General of the party and now she is in her latest position the likely next Conservative Chancellor candidate when Merkel retires.

It wasn't an easy election, her main opponent was a right-wing youngish politician who made his name a few years ago with his conservative neo-liberal finance views. He was rejected, disappeared off the scene to make a fortune as a financier in USA (two private planes and all that) and with Merkel's announcement she was to retire, reappeared. Thank goodness he didn't win (we don't need Barage and Rees Mogg types here) and while AKK has made conciliatory tones she hasn't yet put him in a position of power but got the head of the Young Conservatives as her deputy, a person leaning more to the right.

Interesting times to see if AKK can bring the various family fractions together and lead the conservatives to head the government post-Merkel. She may well do it, she has enough experience of such difficult matters, but as in many countries, there may be the populist move to change a team even if most things are working well.

Just as in the UK which until 2015 was flying high in terms of the economy but the EU was made the scapegoat for all the self-made faults and problems in education, health, police, social security, roads, housing etc, all matters outside the EU remit.

AKmabusiness